A spectacular sign appeared in the sky: a woman dressed with the sun, who had the moon under her feet and a victor's crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant and was crying out from her labor pains, the agony of giving birth. Then another sign appeared in the sky: a huge red dragon with seven heads, ten horns, and seven royal crowns on its heads. Its tail swept away one-third of the stars in the sky and knocked them down to the earth. Then the dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth so that it could devour her child when it was born. She gave birth to a son, a boy, who is to rule all the nations with an iron scepter. But her child was snatched away and taken to God and to his throne. Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where a place had been prepared for her by God so that she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.
Then a war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon and its angels fought back. But it was not strong enough, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. The huge dragon was hurled down. That ancient serpent, called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world, was hurled down to the earth, along with its angels. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say, "Now the salvation, the power, the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah have come. For the one who accuses our brothers, who accuses them day and night in the presence of our God, has been thrown out. Our brothers conquered him by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they did not cling to their lives even in the face of death. So be glad, heavens, and those who live in them! How terrible it is for the earth and the sea, because the Devil has come down to you, filled with rage, knowing that his time is short!"
When the dragon saw that it had been thrown down to the earth, it pursued the woman who had given birth to the boy. However, the woman was given the two wings of a large eagle so that she could fly away from the serpent to her place in the wilderness, where she could be taken care of for a time, times, and half a time. From its mouth the serpent spewed water like a river behind the woman in order to sweep her away with the flood. But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed from its mouth. The dragon became angry with the woman and went away to do battle against the rest of her children, the ones who keep God's commandments and hold on to the testimony about Jesus. Then the dragon stood on the sand of the seashore.
The huge red dragon is the devil. The devil took with him one third of the angels in Heaven to the earth. The woman is Israel. Israel is Yahweh’s bride (Jer.3.1, 8, 14; Hos. 2.2,7,16). The twelve stars on her head represent the twelve tribes of Israel. The woman gave birth to a son. The Son of God, Jesus Christ, was born from the nation of Israel. Christ Jesus is the king of kings who is to rule the entire world with an iron scepter for all eternity.
The devil and his angels descended to the earth at the season of Jesus’ birth. As it was revealed to Daniel, the fifth kingdom (the kingdom of the Son of Man) would crush the four earthly kingdoms (Babylon, Mede-Persia, Greece, and Seleucid Greece) by striking its feet (Seleucid Greece). When the time came to build the fifth kingdom, the Son of Man (Jesus Christ) came to the earth by birth.
The dragon descended to the earth around this time to kill the Son of man, once born. The devil put it in Herod’s heart to kill the child. Desiring to kill “the king of the Jews”, Herod massacred all babies in Israel from the age 0-2. The devil put it in the heart of the teachers of the law to kill him. He also put it in the heart of Judas Iscariot to betray the Lord. He empowered Augustus Caesar to build the Roman Empire. The Romans destroyed Jerusalem, tortured the saints, and led many to idolatry. Pilate pronounced the crucifixion verdict even after being warned by his wife who had a dream. The devil moved the people of Israel to demand the death of the Lord Jesus. They shouted, “Crucify him! His blood be on us and our children”.
In the appointed time, God allowed the Lord Jesus to be tortured and killed. The Lord Jesus was crucified to death but his body did not see corruption. He was resurrected and in the presence of the disciples, caught up to God. The devil killed him but the Lord overcame death. When Satan killed Jesus Christ, he imagined that he had secured his power forever, but the Lord in his death overcame him.
When the Lord ascended into heaven as our righteous advocate, the devil with the fallen angels tried to enter back into heaven but they were refused entry. There was a war in heaven. Satan with his angels fought the Lord Jesus (Michael) with his army. The name of the Lord Jesus as an angel is Michael. Christ Jesus and his army cast the devil with his angels to the earth. This was a legitimate judgement passed on him through the death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ. The casting down from heaven was a sign of his ultimate defeat. This defeat was a deadly wound on the devil.
The angels in heaven rejoiced at the devil being thrown down from heaven. The angels in heaven shouted, “Our brothers conquered him by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they did not cling to their lives even in the face of death”. The Lord did resurrect alone from death. He came to life with a great army of saints (his brothers). Many holy people of the old covenant came back to life and were caught up to the heavens. Some of them appeared to the some in Jerusalem (Mathew 27.51-53). Some of these holy people were killed for refusing to break the OT laws. The blood of Christ obtained for them the perfection to enter life and the heavens. They overcame the devil by their testimony (bearing witness to the truth by their death) and by the blood of Christ. The prophet Isaiah had prophesied of Lucifer’s fall (Isaiah 14.12-17).
When the dragon saw that it had been thrown down to the earth, it pursued the woman who had given birth to the boy: As soon as the dragon was hurled back to earth in a crushing defeat, he vented his anger on Israel. In 70AD, Titus, reduced the Jewish temple and Jerusalem to rubble. On the 14th of April, Titus besieged the city and on the 10th of August, the temple was set on fire. Flavius Josephus records that over 1,100,000 million Jews died in the war. Many died from starvation during the four-year siege and the strong ones were taken into slavery.
However, the woman was given the two wings of a large eagle so that she could fly away from the serpent to her place in the wilderness, where she could be taken care of for a time, times, and half a time: A group of persistent Jews (the Zealots) sought refuge on the mountain of Masada in the desert near the Dead Sea for three and a half years (a time, times and half a time or 1260 days). After 1260 days, in 74AD, the Roman army destroyed them. The word of Christ in Luke 19.43-44, 11.50-51 was fulfilled.
Masada
From its mouth the serpent spewed water like a river behind the woman in order to sweep her away with the flood. But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed from its mouth: The Romans attempted to wipe out all the Israelites but some of them escaped to neighboring countries.
The dragon became angry with the woman and went away to do battle against the rest of her children, the ones who keep God's commandments and hold on to the testimony about Jesus: Having failed to kill all the Jews, the devil vented his anger on the Christians, the ones who hold the testimony about Jesus.
The dragon has seven heads and ten horns. The ten horns of the dragon are ten kings who will rise to power for the war of Armageddon. The first five heads of the dragon:
-Head 1 – Babylon
-Head 2 – Medo- Persia
-Head 3 – Greece
-Head 4 – Seleucid Greece
-Head 5 – The dragon